VARAN

Deep in the Tohoku region's mountains is a lake where local villagers believe the “Baradagi Mountain God” resides. Varan emerged from the lake and devastated the nearby village.

With a scaly body, ferocious claws, a sharp horns on its head, and webbed skin between its legs and arms, this enormous reptile kaiju looks like a prehistoric monstrosity. Possessing incredible strength to match its enormous mass, Varan can crush modern buildings and wreck untold havoc. It’s reptilian body is resistant to injury, making Varan impervious to conventional weaponry. Most impressive of all, this ancient kaiju is triphibious, meaning it's able to survive on land, exist under water, and even fly.

The Japanese Defense Force did their best to beat back Varan after intercepting it at Haneda airport, but their weapons couldn’t pierce the kaiju’s impervious hide. It took some clever thinking, but they managed to trick Varan into swallowing two explosives. The first greatly damaged the monster from the inside, causing it to retreat into the sea. Once submerged out of site, the second explosive went off, leaving mankind to believe the ancient God-like kaiju was finally dead.

A juvenile form of Varan appeared many years later on Monsterland, and then again in Japan where it was a spectator during the all-out monster battle against King Ghidorah, as seen in 1968’s Destroy All Monsters.